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Topic: Starter strips at 90o to the orientation of the lower box (Read 1473 times)

Hi folks, just wondering what the implications might be of putting starter strips at a 90o orientation in a second box (above a queen excluder) when compared to the orientation of the bottom box? I.e. the foundation in the bottom box is in frames that run front to back, then there is a queen excluder, again oriented front to back, and then above the excluder I have some starter strips oriented side to side in jars (trying to get the bees to build comb in the jars). Any issues with that orientation?

He is in the southern hemisphere. That right there makes his starter strips 90 degrees out of phase from your advice.

Throw in the fact that his season is 6 months out of whack, and from the bottom of the globe making gravity opposite polar from ours, he should be growing his comb 180 degrees out, but the hives should be upside down, and the comb being drawn from the bottom to the top. Otherwise stuff will be falling out of the comb cells.

The bees will build parallel comb in any large enough space. If you place your jar's mouth in respect to bee space, they may build it in any orientation relative to the established comb in the rest of the hive, but parallel to other comb respective of the first comb built in the jar.

In other words, the bees build comb any way they want in my top bar hives. Without a guide they put comb in kind of a circular pattern. One comb in the center, combs next to them parallel, and the further away from center they start to diverge. 30 degrees or even 90!

Top bars are like Bonsai. You have to trim, train, and cull regularly.

"I know you understand what you think I said, but am not sure you understand that what you heard is not what I meant..."

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"Thinking is like sin, them that doesn't is scairt of it, and them that does gets to liking it so much they can't quit!" -Josh Billings.

I'm reading "Langstroth on The Hive and The Honey Bee" and he specifically mentions that if you add starter strips or drawn comb in the glass jars the bees will fill the jars much faster than without it.Jim

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